Washington DC [
US
], April 16 (ANI): The
US
Department of State said on Tuesday (
US
local time) that America continues to push for a
ceasefire
between
Russia
and
Ukraine
. Until the
ceasefire
is achieved, spokesperson
Tammy Bruce
said, “there would be no negotiations, no decisions, no arrangements until after the carnage has stopped.”
While responding to a query on the negotiations with
Russia
, on being asked whether there have been any discussions of the sanctions relief and whether the
White House
has asked the
State Department
to drop any list of sanctions that could be removed, Spokesperson
Tammy Bruce
said, “I won’t speak to any discussion between the
White House
and the State Depaerment, Secretary Rubio and any other leader here. But what I can say is a reminder that was clear from the beginning- there would be no negotiations, no decisions, no arrangements until after the carnage has stopped.”
She further added, “After Psalm Sunday, there is clearly a dynamic that there has to be questions about the nature of who is really committed to peace and a
ceasefire
. But there are no negotiations or arrangements, based on the regular statements from the administration and from Secretary Rubio as well. It’s a meat grinder. That has not changed, and until that stops, nothing like that is happening.”
Bruce said, “Yet, we continue to work obviously for the
ceasefire
in that regard.”
Her remarks come after
White House
Press Secretary
Karoline Leavitt
has mentioned during the press briefing on the agreement with
Russia
, whether
Russia
agreed to anything to Steve Witkoff, Leavitt said that while she wouldn’t want to get ahead of the negotiations, “What I can tell is, a productive conversation was had as the Presidential envoy Steve Witkoff said last night he believes that
Russia
wants to end this war and the President believes that as well.”
She added, “There is incentive for
Russia
to end this war, and perhaps that could be economic partnerships with the United States, but we need to see a
ceasefire
first, and the President and the Presidential Envoy Witkoff made it very clear to the
Russia
ns.”
Her remarks follow
US
President Donald Trump blaming the Joe Biden administration for the ongoing
Russia
–
Ukraine
war and claiming that the war would not have occurred if the 2020 election had not been “rigged.”
Previously, United States President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, met
Russia
n President Vladimir Putin in Saint Petersburg to discuss the conflict in
Ukraine
, Al Jazeera reported.
On Friday, Putin was shown on state TV, as per Al Jazeera, greeting Witkoff in Saint Petersburg’s presidential library at the start of the negotiations, and their talks lasted more than four hours.
The Kremlin said the meeting “focused on various aspects of the Ukrainian settlement”, without elaborating.
The talks came as the
US
continues efforts to broker a
ceasefire
deal to end the conflict, which has stalled amid negotiations on the conditions of the deal. (ANI)
Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
Syndigate.info
).